On the heels of a 2015 fire season that burned 8.8 million acres--more acreage than in any year in the past decade, it seems appropriate to review Mary Lowry's novel Wildfire, offering a rare window into the world of wildland firefighters--hotshots. Lowry worked on the Pike Hotshot Crew.

The idea behind these sustainable finance policies is that they're supposed to drive positive change in the industries that are hungry for bank loans or underwriting services. But in Goldman Sachs' case, its policies actually lag those of their customers.

When Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits Washington this week, President Obama will be playing host to a world leader whose government is seemingly doing everything it can to launch itself as quickly as possible into the top ranks of climate polluters.

The Appalachian Trail is back in the news these days. Some of us have indelible memories of our experiences on the trail. Here's my tale of tracing the entire length of it, years back, in, uh, a rented Geo Prizm.

Even though this was a big one, it pales in comparison to the fire in Northwest Oregon in 1933, where fishing and timber are inseparable. Both resources must be nurtured, harvested, managed and passed on.

While the fires in Indonesia might seem far away for many people, they are everyone's problem. Many of the blazes are on deep peat lands, producing huge plumes of smoke and large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are stoking climate change.

The costs of drought vary widely from sector to sector, and often include things that are hard to measure or to quantify. It is difficult to report on drought costs in a comprehensive or consistent way. And until a drought ends, it is impossible to know the ultimate costs.

Our stalwart U.S. Congress, aided and abetted by government bureaucracy, is cutting Western firefighters' lifeline much as it did when members of the House initially balked at aid for sick and dying 9/11 first responders.

2010 was the hottest year ever recorded. And 2013 is revving up to take the all-time high record. The amazing thing to me is that despite decades of warnings about the grave repercussions of the greenhouse effect, people are still surprised when it gets so hot.

Indeed, a number of studies show that Lake Mead, the source of water for the Lake, has lost more than half of its volume over the past three decades. So what do we do about this? Traditional Native American rain dances perhaps?